Jim and John Harbaugh: The Transcripts

Oh brother, here we go again. It’s Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers against older brother John’s Baltimore Ravens in the Feb. 3 Super Bowl. To refresh your memory on all things Harbaugh, here are the transcripts from their conference calls with national media before their 2011 Thanksgiving Night game that the Ravens won:

Coach Jim Harbaugh

Advertisement

Did you get a chance to hear your brother’s national conference call? “No.”

Didn’t know if you had any rebuttals to anything he said. “I’ll get a chance to take a look at it at some point maybe if I have time.”

What are you going to say to him on the field before the game? “I don’t know. Haven’t thought about it.”

Will you talk to him on the field before the game? “Yeah. Sure.”

In the whole coaching hiring process, how soon did it come to your attention that the 49ers would be playing your brother’s division this season? “Not during the hiring process.”

When did it first come to your attention that it would be on the schedule? “Sometime after I was hired. Can’t remember exactly.”

He went over a list of the things that you’ve taken from him, blue collar shirts, some other things. Anything going back the other way that he’s borrowed from you? “I don’t know. I’m not really into adding them up.”

What about the sign above… “Blue collared shirts was definitely his idea. Thought it was very good.”

Didn’t he take a sign that you had over your door… “Maybe. I don’t know specifically. We definitely share ideas and we have since we were kids.”

John said about your personality basically, you’re a real nice guy and you like to have fun, and you basically lead us on, which of course is true. In other words, you play with us. Sort of when we ask a question or people challenge you. That was his thought. “Hmm. (laughs from the room). Everybody always laughs at me when I’m really not trying to be funny. I just try to answer the questions.”

Advertisement

What coaching traits or principles do you guys share in common? “Core, fundamental, principle beliefs?”

Sure. “Many. I think we’re cut from the same cloth.”

In a class, I’d say that answer wasn’t specific. What that person was asking specifically … “He can ask his own questions.”

What core …? “Many. He asked me. Many principles. Many core, fundamental principles.”

Name one. “No. I don’t like the tone of your question.”

OK, that makes us even. “You’ve expressed that many times, Lowell (Cohn).”

When did you start game planning for the Ravens? “Did some in the offseason. We’ve done some during the bye week and in earnest last night and today.”

After dinner when you got back to the office, did you go over the Arizona game or did you go right into Ravens? “Went over the Arizona game first.”

And then into Ravens? “Correct.”

Did you end up sleeping in the office last night? “No. Got home and slept at my house. It was good.”

Is this a big deal for you? This week? “Yeah it’s a big deal. It’s a big game. Biggest game of the year in a lot of ways because it’s our next game. We’re going against a team that is, in our opinion, the best team we’ve played this season. May be the best team we play all season. The best defense without question that we’ve played. In so many ways it’s a big challenge. The shortness of the week is another big challenge there. A lot of things to overcome this week.”

That’s a very impersonal answer that you just gave. This is a big deal. You and your brother have two of 32 jobs on the planet. It’s got to be a big deal for your family, your parents. From that standpoint, is it a big deal to you? “You probably want to peel back the onion some more and get into my soul, but this week my brother is just somebody we’re trying to beat. Doing my job as it relates to our team preparing for the game is first and foremost. I think it’ll probably be a big deal for my parents. If it is or isn’t, that’s not relevant to what we’re trying to accomplish this week either.”

You won’t allow yourself to step away and sort of note how unique this is? “It’s unique. It’s the first time in history that two brothers have coached against each other. This will be the first time since they went to a 16-game schedule that a team has traveled three time zones to play a Thursday game. Those are first. We definitely want to win. There will be a lot of things to focus on other than getting real nostalgic.”

Do you think the NFL has put you at a disadvantage because of the whole Harbaugh versus Harbaugh thing on Thanksgiving? “I definitely think it was very considerate of the NFL to reunite the brother’s on Thanksgiving. I think that’s going to be very difficult for our team. There’s no question that we drew the short end of the straw on this one.”

Have you and your brother ever competed against each other before in certain situations? “Yes.”

Any ones stick out in your mind? “There’s just so many. So many times. There was one time when we were on two different baseball teams. I think they beat us 1-0. We were the Sherriff’s All Stars and they were the Baskin Robbins. They had the nice uniforms, the recruited players. We were kind of a band of misfits that didn’t make the Baskin Robbins teams. We were kind of the younger ones. We had a heck of a pitcher named Jim Phelps. Phelps kept us in that ball game.”

Who was faster, by your recollection, of when your dad would time you guys going up the stairs to bring him a refreshment during a timeout in a game you’re watching or something? “It depended what age we were. There’s just different times when we were growing up that I was bigger, stronger and faster. Then he’d get a growth spurt and he’d be bigger, stronger, and faster. It just kind of went that way. He started out bigger, stronger, faster and then I got bigger and stronger and faster, then he took back over.”

It seemed like John was always so supportive of you. You were the superior athlete… “See if you can spread the word on that a little bit. Don’t keep that to yourself.”

Was there ever a time where he was jealous of that or he always seemed to be pretty supportive of your athletic career? “No question. There were so many times when he knocked down hurdles for me. I’d get to hang out with him and his friends or he’d put in a word to the Baskin Robbins baseball coach, ‘wait ‘til you get a look at my younger brother, he’s really good’. Didn’t make the team that year. Then when he went to Miami of Ohio, did the same thing. Coaches there, talking about the quarterback on the team and ‘well, if you like him, wait ‘til you see my younger brother, wait ‘til you get a load of him’. Then I got recruited by Miami of Ohio. He’s knocked down hurdles for me my whole life. Still doing it today, the way I look at it.”

Did you ever get on that Baskin Robbins team when you got older? I think the following year, maybe. Then John and I played a year of high school football together when he was a senior and I was a sophomore. We’ve always been in each other’s corners. That’s my brother. Next to my wife, my dad and my brother are my best friends. There’s that, there’s all those things. I’m proud of him, I love him. I’m his biggest supporter, right next to his wife. This week he’s just somebody we’re trying to beat.”

What kind of impressions did you get from watching him coach? You’ve been to a couple Ravens games the last couple years and been on the sideline. What did you take from those games? “Just how good he was. How good their organization was. How good their players were. What a strong, mighty team they had. Always impressed.”

Do you feel like you probably have a better understanding of them than any other team in the NFL just by having been around watching them a little bit the last couple of years? “No, I wouldn’t think so. I wouldn’t know that for sure, but I wouldn’t think so. I think the teams that play them in their division probably have a much better…”

No, but do you personally in terms of all the other teams? “In terms of what?”

Just knowing their personnel and their strategies. “No, I think the team’s that play them. Steelers would come to mind. Those teams know each other really well. History with their head coach, yes I’ve got a lot of that. Probably more than anybody else.”

Have you watched the Ravens this year as anything other than a coach? Have you watched them as a fan at all and rooted for them? “Yes, I’ve rooted for them. Every time they play one of our division teams, even more than normal.”

Has there been a time where they’ve been playing at a time slot when you can actually watch them on live TV? “Yes. I’ve caught series and things like that on television, sure.”

You guys have obviously been very good against the run this year. What special challenges do Ravens RB Ray Rice and the Ravens present in that regard? “They present a lot of challenges. Very good, multidimensional running back in Ray. They do a nice job with the play action. Joe Flacco’s a tremendous pocket passer. They have a lot of weapons and they’ve done a really good job with their receiving corps, bolstering that. There’s speed that they can threaten you with down the field. Very good offensive line, (tackle Marshal) Yanda has helped them getting back in the lineup. It’s an outstanding offense as well.”

What makes Ray so effective do you think? “I think that he’s able to do anything that you would want a running back to do. He can run the assortment of all runs. Extremely good out of the backfield catching the ball. He’s a very good blocker.”

This is a little sentimental, too, but your parents are going to reach their 50th anniversary. That’s a number that a lot of couples strive for, it’s hard to do in this day and age. That’s falling on Friday. Is that pretty special to you this week, too, or can you think about that after Thursday? “Really proud of that. Really proud that my parents will be having their 50th year, celebrating their 50th year of marriage. What kid could possibly have it better than having two parents that love each other and provided the kind of example that they have. It’ll be a great celebration for them.”

Will you be able to stay in Baltimore and celebrate with the family? “I’m planning on flying back with the team.”

Do you have any status update on FB Bruce Miller? Did he come back out in the second half? “No, he didn’t.”

So he stayed in the locker room for observation? “Did he come back and play or did he step foot back onto the field?”

Onto the field. “I’m not sure if he stepped back out of the locker room onto the field. I did not see him come onto the field in the second half. He didn’t play in the second half.”

How’s he doing? “He’s doing alright. He’s doing good. I thought he was doing pretty darn good at halftime, too, when I checked on him. It’s getting better. So, he’s clearing up and I think he’ll be fine.”

You have a longstanding relationship with Ravens Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron. Is that somebody you’ve kept in touch with since college through the years and had an influence on you? “Yes, very much so. Cam was my college coach at Michigan. Always have kept in touch with Cam. Did a quarterbacking video with Cam right after I graduated, when I was playing in Chicago. John coached for Cam at Indiana. Know his family, his kids, his wife. Been really good friends with Cam. When Cam came to San Diego, I remember, he came for an interview. I picked him up at the airport and he interviewed with Marty Schottenheimer. Got the job. Then a week later, he was back in town looking for a house and he drove out to where my kids had a little soccer game or something going on. He said ‘hey, I’m going to be living right next door to you’ so he rented a house right next to the one I was living at in San Diego. Those were good times, too. I don’t remember how many years it was, three or four years, where he was a next door neighbor.”

Vic Fangio came from your brother’s staff to join you at Stanford. How did that whole process come about and was your brother supportive of Vic leaving Baltimore? “It came about because Vic was coaching in Baltimore and I got to know quite a few of the coaches. Vic was somebody I was really dazzled by from the first time I met him and talked to him. Talking football, his knowledge, his experience. The reports he did, the game plans, hours and hours of football talk. That was – trying to get him, trying to get him, trying to get him. Tried to get him the year before, tried to get him that year or tried to get him the year after. It fell into place a year ago.”

Was your brother supportive of that? “He approved. I wouldn’t have done it without asking.”

You said John has kept knocking down doors for you or something… “Hurdles is what I said.”

How would you say he’s doing that now? “I think in a lot of ways, his success in the NFL. I felt that. Taking his team to the playoffs three straight years in a row. I think in a lot of ways I was looked at as a better coach. Look what John has done, here’s his younger brother, etc. Not too different than when we were in high school and every teacher ‘oh, you’re John’s brother, John’s such a great youngster, we all love John’. Who wouldn’t love John in that way? There’s many hurdles he’s knocked down for me.”

What did they say after you left? “I was always glad when my dad would take a job and move somewhere else, because by the time I went through there I’d pretty much worn out my welcome.”

Have you heard from the league on safety Dashon Goldson and whether he’s getting any disciplinary action? “Not yet, not yet. Haven’t heard yet.”

You’ve been a player in this league, can you talk about how you think fatigue will impact this game given that it’s three days of rest versus six? “Right. I played in some Thanksgiving games. I don’t know how many, one or two. And they’re fast, they go fast. Before you know it you’re getting on a plane and we’ll be going to make that six hour flight. And it happens fast. The recovery time is so important to football players especially when they’ve come off a physical game as we did, as Baltimore did, to let your body recover. So, they’re going to have to use their super-human powers of recovery this week, and do the best they can. But, it’s a big challenge there’s no question about it.”

With the way tackle Alex Boone played do you feel like if he needs to step in and start at right tackle he’ll be able to handle that chore? “Yes, oh yes. We have tons of confidence in Alex Boone. Get his hands lower. We got to get his punch and his hands lower. And there will be a lot of good coaching. In teaching today there will be a lot in bullet points because you want to get on to the Baltimore game plan and getting that taught and learned in a short period of time. But, there’s quite a few things that we can get better from coming off the ball game we just had. And to be able to do that after a win, I always like that better. I’d prefer that. I think the fellows do as well. But, we shouldn’t be kicking six field goals in a football game. We should be finding ways to get those balls in the end zone, and we had good chances too. Where the throw we missed that was one that probably would have been points. And thought Alex had a really good game, missed on a couple. Thought we did a good job with the receiving corps. Great job with [WR Michael] Crabtree, [WR] Kyle Williams as we talked about yesterday, [TE]Vernon [Davis]. But we also dropped a couple. Offensive line though did play extremely well. And just an overall team statistic, if you can have the ball for 44 minutes in a game that is a team statistic. Really offense and defense predominately, defense getting off on third down. The three and outs, the turnovers, five turnovers, and the amount of plays that they limitedArizona too. And then the offense, controlling the ball, knocking off I think it was 24-25 first downs in the ball game. So guys, that’s a great accomplishment, but there was more out there, more points out there. There should have been somewhere in the 40’s that our team scored. And some things, some penalties that we had in the special teams that we want to get corrected. And we’ve got to do it fast. So, hopefully that gives you a little insight on all the things that we have to do as a team this week in a very short period of time. So, there’s just not a lot of time to really even think about the warm and fuzzy reunions, or the nostalgia of it all. There’s just work to be done. And the other thing too is just on as it relates to Dashon. Dashon was punched in the back of the head and then retaliated. What I think needs to be addressed is this mindset that you can’t retaliate. You can’t—obviously they’re not going to see the first one. It’s always the second guy that gets caught. And that’s the one who’s going to get flagged. Had Dashon not thrown the punch, then what we’re going to be saying was there would have been no flag, there had been no fine, we would have moved on to the next play. But, the first one needs to get addressed. It needs to be officiated and that needs to be a foul. Otherwise, and you wonder if people do it, as soon as the whistle’s blown, hey get the first shot in. The mindset is, ‘it doesn’t matter the first one, it’s the second one. So, turn your back, get the first shove in, or the first punch in, and then turn your back and see if you can’t get a 15-yard penalty.’ I’m sure that’s not what anybody wants who watches football, who is even associated with the game of football. But, you do see it. Not just at the pro level but at the college level, and down to the high school level. How many people in this room got a cheap shot or got hit in the back of the head, or forearmed in the back of the head and nothing happened. It’s just the mindset to me is so, ‘you can’t retaliate, you’ve got to walk away,’ but let’s get the first one. Let’s see if we can’t watch out for those.”

Can you challenge that? Can you ask the officials to go back and review? “No not challengeable to my knowledge. But, anyhow that’s a little editorializing there on my part.”

You mentioned the six-hour plane can you do any coaching on the plane? “I thought of that, I really did. Can we wire up the monitors for some video and maybe section off parts of the plane to get up and hold a meeting, etc. And we’ll do that individually with players looking through their notes, reviewing their playbooks. And the coaches do that. They circulate throughout the plane and coach their guys and talk to them. So, we’re going to have to definitely use every minute this week.”

* * *

Ravens coach John Harbaugh

Did your childhood competition with Jim help get you where you are today? “I don’t know. I don’t think it was any different than most other childhoods or brothers. It definitely impacts who you are as a person. We both competed with each other and against each other. I know one thing – you couldn’t have anyone tougher to compete against or anyone more challenging to compete against every single day. From that standpoint I guess you go against the best. That had to help a little bit, maybe.”

What’s your reaction when you hear the Harbaugh family motto, “Who has it better than us?” being used in the Niners locker room? “I’m sorry that he got to it first. I should have thought of that before him. We should have made some t-shirts, too. I think it’s really cool. I think it’s neat. It’s very meaningful, obviously, to us. I think it’s pretty cool that maybe people out there, Niners fans or football fans, can kind of take something like that and maybe try to apply it a little bit to their family, or whatever. It can be something they have a little fun with and maybe it will make a difference.”

How much do you guys borrow from each other? “There’s a lot more than the blue-collared shirts that he’s used. There’s certainly a lot of things that we’ve used, too. We have a saying around our office here that talks about hustle, that talks about how our program’s all about hustle all the time. I took that directly from Stanford. There’s always stuff you use, probably more than that, more ideas on how to run a practice or in some cases X’s and O’s or how just how to approach situations that you deal with with players and coaches. We talk a lot about that kind of stuff, too.”

One thing Jim may have gotten from you was talking about deer skin and armadillo skin. Is that one of your creations, too? “Yeah, that comes from the Ravens, no doubt about it. That’s one of a few things. I’m doubtful that Jim has owned up to the fact of where some of that stuff comes from. But I’m glad to hear that maybe that has taken play. That’s good news.”

How much have you stolen from your father? “That’s the point. I think all of it comes from him. To me it’s not stealing, anyway. It has nothing to do with stealing, it’s the college conversation. A philosophy was kind of imbued in us early on, just an approach, a way of looking at things in terms of football or life or whatever. That comes from our parents. So we’re very proud of them.”

There are stories that say you two are best friends and at least one that said you’ve never gotten into a fight, according to your wife, at least. Is that true? “She’s only known us in our adult years. We’ve never had a fight as adults, maybe since we were like 25 or something. But we had some knockdown drag-outs when we were younger. I can remember my mom yelling, screaming, wailing and crying: ‘You’re brothers. You’re not supposed to act like this. You’re supposed to get along better.’ There’s probably a lot of mothers out there who can relate to that.”

Would you describe each other as best friends? Is that fair? “Absolutely, I absolutely would. I’d throw our dad right into that category. He’s the guy I trust the most and would entrust him with absolutely anything in my life.”

Is there anything difficult in this matchup for you emotionally? “I don’t know if I’ve really thought about it. Maybe there is. You think about the fact that I’ve never rooted against him really ever. We played against each other one time in baseball in high school, an American Legion team, my dad was actually coaching Jim’s team. We won 1-0. That’s the last time I remember going against him. We were always on the same team. It’s going to be different that way. But we’re not going to be playing. It’s going to be the players playing the game.”

Your dad said one of things he was proudest of in regards to you was the fact that while Jim established himself as a college and NFL quarterback, you were always his biggest cheerleader and first to call him after a big game. Where did that come from? Was their envy or jealousy in there? “I don’t know where it came from, but that was easy. That wasn’t even a consideration. If you can’t root for your brother I don’t know who you can possibly root for in the world. I was always just so proud of what he was doing. I always felt that he was the most underrated quarterback who ever played. I felt like he never got enough credit. I thought he was always such a great leader, lead his team. I don’t think he ever had a great supporting cast. I just feel like he was really a special, special player. I’ll forever be proud of that. I’m even more proud of him now as a coach, and really more proud of him as a father and a husband and what he’s doing with his kids. It’s neat to see. You grow up with somebody for half a century and it’s neat to see a person your attached to grow and become the person he is.”

What’s been your view of how the Niners been able to pull off win after win after win this season? “I think it’s just good football. It’s not surprising at all. First of all, they’re very talented. They’ve got a lot of good players. I know Jim talks about that all the time. He talks about the players. They have a lot of very, very good players, and I think they’re very well coached. I think they stick to their philosophy, which is: good, solid football, it’s field-position football, they don’t turn the ball over, they play defense and they play special teams, they run it and they complete passes. So I think it’s a proven formula and I think they’ve been very disciplined in sticking with that.”

Did you watch the 49ers film even before this week? “Sure, throughout the season I’ve had a chance to throw them on and watch them during the weeks.”

Was that something you did during your bye week? “No, our bye week was a little bit earlier so we were getting ready forHouston. I know the Niners game planned us on their bye week, but it was a little bit later. We didn’t get a chance to do that in our bye week because it was a little bit earlier. We were getting ready for the Houston Texans.”

Your dad said that you and Jim were competitive in all sports and would invent games in the house to play. Could you share one of those games? “I’ll tell you what, I’d have to dig back in the memory banks. When were really little, we used to have the old sleeveless t-shirts underwear things and we’d draw those up as different uniforms in the Big 10. And we’d play tennis ball basketball on a coat hanger rim. We did that every now and then. There was always something. We’d throw balls between tree branches and hit snowballs against trees. Maybe Jim could remember some. It was whatever we could think of, I guess.”

Can you shed some light on your brother’s personality? How are you two different? “I don’t know if you guys are buying everything there. You’ve probably been around him long enough to know he’s a pretty personable guy. Very clever. Very funny. You’ve got to figure out where he’s coming from sometimes. Usually he’s got a message for you and for his team, and you’ve got to figure out what he’s trying to tell you. He’s got lots of friends.”

What are your thoughts about Ray Lewis being able to play on Thursday? “My thoughts about it? I think about it all the time. I have lots of thoughts about it.”

Let me rephrase it: Do you think Ray Lewis will play on Thursday? “Is that something I really want to share right now? Would there be value in me doing that.”

We cover your brother so we think the answer is no. I have to ask. “Sure, I understand.”

What is Thanksgiving going to be like after the game for the Harbaugh family? “All the Harbaughs, the extended Harbaughs, will have a great time one way or the other. I think there will be one Harbaugh side that will be really happy and there will be another Harbaugh side that will be really, really disappointed, and then mom and dad will be torn. That’s how I think it will go.”

Will you get together after the game? “We’ve got a lot of extended family coming in to watch the game. I’m the one who’s had to get the tickets. That’s kind of been an expensive proposition, but that’s cool. I haven’t heard from Jim. I haven’t gotten an offer for any tickets. I was surprised about that.”

Are you two planning on having any sort of Thanksgiving dinner together? “No, no, no. I haven’t talked to him for a little while. It’s just about football, really. We wouldn’t have Thanksgiving together anyway if we were playing a normal game. I’m sure both of our focuses are going to be on our game and on our team. There’s really no time for anything else. He’s going back, on a flight back after the game. He’ll be a on a charter.”

Has it sunk it how unique it is that you and your brother are head coaches in the NFL? “It’s funny because on one hand you really are focused on the job, so all your energy and thoughts are immersed in your team and the issues that you’re facing or the team that we’re facing, the game plan, those kinds of things and just the preparation part of it and the challenges you have. The other side of it, kind of underneath everything, it’s an amazing thing. To say that it’s not there, that you’re not thinking about it probably wouldn’t be real. I think it’s an amazing thing. It’s an historic thing. It’s very special. I couldn’t be more proud for our parents or for Jim. I just think it’s really neat. I really hope that if there’s a message out there that people can kind of connect with somehow someway, it’s basically some kind of a family message, some kind of a thought that really anything is possible. And that maybe God does work all things for good in some ways. If you try to do the right thing, and we’ve made plenty of mistakes and we’ve screwed plenty of things up, and we’ve said the wrong things to each other or other people plenty of time. But if you maybe try in some ways to set your heart in the right way and put your family first, things can work out. I know the NFL is taking a family theme in this whole thing, and that’s what we try to do here, and Jim tries to do the same thing, because we grew up that way. We were always around football. We were always around the office. We were always around the field. We were always in the locker room. We’ve tried to do that with our team. We have our coaches’ kids here all the time, we have players’ kids here all the time. One of our players, (tight end) Kris Wilson, has a 3-year-old and didn’t have a babysitter Saturday night, so he brought her over here for our Saturday night meetings and she was running around. A lot of coaches would look at that as a distraction. At our places of work, we should make it family friendly. Let the kids come around. Let the kids be a part of it. They’re not as much as a distraction as you would think. We don’t always do a great job maybe with our kids in this society. If we can’t do a great job with the children, you know, that’s what it’s all about. I know I’m rambling a little bit and it’s not very well organized of a thought, but maybe there is a message in there somewhere.”

What are your strengths vs. Jim’s? What do you excel at vs. him? “I would never even touch that question because it’s a comparison and what it does is it ends up diminishing one side or the other. I never answer those. I’ll go over his strengths if you want me to tell you what he does well or whatever. But there’s no comparison.”

Sure. “I just think he’s a real competitor. He’s very smart. He knows the game inside and out. He’s very disciplined in the way he approaches it. He’s got a great vision for his team. I think he knows what he wants them to look like. He’s got a great way of communicating it. So he’s a really good teacher. He learned that from our dad. Dad always talked about being a great teacher. You have a picture in your mind of what you want it to look like. And you do a great job of taking that picture and putting it into your players’ or students’ minds.”

Will your mom and dad be in the stands on Thursday? “I don’t think so. They’re talking about coming to pregame and being on the field and then sneaking away and watching it on TV. I think they’re kind of torn and conflicted about that. So I don’t know where they’ll be.”

Your father had a terrific coaching career. When you look at him as a model, what things did you learn from your dad to apply to your coaching career? “What didn’t we learn from him? The list would be so long, but the one thing that strikes me about my dad, even to this day, he’s a man without guile. He’s as honest and straight forward a person as I’ve ever met in my life. If there’s one thing Jim and I both have taken from that, and if there’s one thing I’d like to be on my gravestone, it is that. You know where he’s coming from. You know he’s very sensitive and he’s very caring. He cares about people and he puts other people first. It’s all about administering to other people. He’s a very emotional and a very passionate guy at the same time, too. But he’s very honest and straight forward. Those are things I love about him.”

He retired after he led his team to the national title. Can you talk about how unique that is in this day and ago of piling on more? “Yeah, it’s incredible. He had a few more years left in him. He could have coached for quite a while. I think he was excited about what we were doing and the grandkids. He has a bunch of grandkids he wanted to spend time with. They’ve had a chance to travel around, and walk in the door and scream, ‘Who’s got it better than us?’ And the kids go, ‘Noooobody.’ It’s really pretty cool. I’ll tell you one thing. I’ve been around a lot of coaches over the years. I’ve never been around a better coach, a better teacher than Jack Harbaugh. I can tell you that.”

You mentioned the NFL has a family theme on Thanksgiving. Who is the first family of the NFL? Is it the Harbaughs, Ryans, Matthews or the Mannings? “I’d never even go there. It’s just cool that these are the stories that are out there. There are so many great families in this league and so many great stories. Sometimes you read blogs, and they’re great, too. But I’d like to read some of those stories, and I think people want to read that stuff. You talk about our team, you talk about good family men, the husbands, the fathers. The stories are incredible and that’s what the NFL is mostly about. There are always going to be guys that make mistakes. But if we can do any good in this league, we can keep pushing that part of it, because that’s what it’s all about.”

Is Jim cockier than you are? “Is Jim cocky?”

Is he cockier than you are? “Am I cocky?”

No, is he cockier than you are? “That’s the most ridiculous question I’ve ever heard, unless if you want to rephrase it in some kind way.”

Is he more confident? He has legendary pitchers in high school about being the most confident guy on the field. Does he have more of that characteristic than you? “I don’t know. I’m pretty confident, too. We’re both confident.”

How often do you talk to Jim? “I’d say once a week at least. We go a few weeks sometimes or a month over the years without talking. But it’s pretty regular. We talk the most when something’s going on or if we need help. When you start getting into some high-stakes things in your life that you’re dealing with, we probably talk more.”

You said you trust your father with any and everything. I assume that applies to your brother as well? “I was actually referring to Jim on that, and I would say that about my dad, too. Absolutley. Those two people, along with my wife, I’d trust with everything.”

When was the first chance you think he could be get a chance to be a NFL coach? “Probably when he got the quality control job in Oakland, when he decided to get into coaching for the first time. It was just a matter of time. Because I know what he’s made of, and I know how much personality he’s got, how smart he is and how hard he would work at it. To me it was almost a foregone conclusion in my mind it would happen.”

How protective of Joanie were you guys as older brothers? “Yeah, Joanie, she pretty much had the run of everything. She could pretty much say or do what she wanted in elementary school. She had two older brothers. But she was the baby of the family. She got completely spoiled by mom and dad. She had her own room. Yeah, she got pretty much the whole back seat of the car and shoved us over to the doors.”

You’re not bitter, at all? “Not at all. No, Joanie’s great. She’s the defender of the family. She has everybody’s back at all times. She gets that from our mom. You watch my mom at a game, you’ll never see anything like with the emotions going up and down, with her getting into the game and defending us. If you wonder where the passion comes from, it comes from Jackie, no doubt.”

Are there any football secrets you’ve held back, anything that might surprise your brother on Thursday? “Sure, maybe what I’ll do is I’ll fax them out to you right now. (Laughter.) I’ll tell you what, it’s going to be a hard-fought game. It’s not, I don’t think it’s going to be a trick-’em game. There will be probably something that we’ll try, they’re try something, but it’s a short week. It’s two very physical teams. It’s two teams with quite a lot at stake. It’s two teams that play a very similar style of football. It’s going to be a great night. It’s going to be a great night for football. If you’re a football fan I wouldn’t think you’d want to miss this game.”